Song: The Green Grass Grows All Around
Artist: Various Artists - Jewel and Barney
Year: 1877
Album: Jewel - The Merry Goes ‘Round
Language Feature: Consonant Clusters
Episode Description
It’s finally spring where we are, and we are so excited to see the bird in a nest, the nest on a branch and the green grass growing all around!! And what do all of these things have in common? They all have at least one consonant cluster.
We’re going way, way back in time to the 1800s for this song! It’s a traditional folk song called, “The Green Grass Grows all Around,” and it’s great practice for those tricky consonant clusters. Join us for this episode to learn a song that you will be singing for days!
Episode Transcript
<Intro>
E: Hi! I’m Ece.
H: And I’m Heather. And we’re the hosts of the language-learning, singalong podcast, English as a Singing Language.
E: So, Heather, I think we’re going to be talking about pronunciation in this episode, is that right?
H: It sure is. We’re going to discuss one of the most challenging features of English pronunciation – what to do when several consonant sounds are all grouped together.
E: That is a feature that many languages don’t have and, you're right, it can definitely be a challenge.
H: I'm really excited about today’s episode.
E: Me too! Let’s get started.
<End Intro>
H: (humming The Green Grass Grows All Around)
E: Hey Heather! What are you up to? You look so...sad! Is everything ok?
H: Oh, hi Ece. You’re right. I’m feeling a little sad today. You know my youngest son went to university, right?
E: Yes! You were so excited and happy! What’s going on?
H: I am excited and happy,...but I’m also a little sad. It’s a very bittersweet feeling when your child grows up and moves out on their own.
E: I bet it is. It’s sweet that they’re grown up and can take care of themselves, but bitter that you maybe don’t see them every day anymore. But what are you doing?
H: Well, I decided to go through some of these boxes of the boys’ belongings from when they were little. Look what I found.
E: Oh my gosh! CDs! I haven’t listened to a CD in such a long time!
H: Me neither. But this was their favorite one from when they were little. Do you remember this giant purple dinosaur?
E: I sure do. He’s hard to forget.
H: And one of their favorite, favorite songs is on this CD. It’s called, “The Green Grass Grows All Around.”
E: I know that song! It’s so fun. Is it a children’s song?
H: It’s actually a very old Appalachian folk song.
E: A folk song? Folk music is a kind of music that is usually passed down from generation to generation, right? It’s music from rural areas or the countryside outside the city.
H: That’s right.
E: But then, what is “Appalachia”?
H: The Appalachian Mountains run along the east coast of the United States. In fact, it includes the area where we live.
E: Wow! So, since folk songs are many generations old, how old is this song?
H: In fact, this song is believed to be from 1877!
E: That’s definitely the oldest song we’ve talked about so far!
H: It is. And nobody is 100% sure, but many people think that the lyrics were written by a man named William Jerome, and the melody was written by Harry Von Tilzer. It was so long ago, though, nobody can be certain.
E: So, there are a lot of folk versions of this song, but there are also children’s versions, too.
H: Yes. Two of the most popular recordings are from the American singer-songwriter-actor Jewel, who included the song on her 2011 Album, The Merry Goes ‘Round.
E: And then there’s the version by the purple dinosaur, Barney, that your children used to listen to.
H: Yes. And there are many other versions, too.
E: Is there anything else we should know about this song?
H: Well, it’s a type of song called a cumulative song.
E: A what?
H: A cumulative song.
E: Oh! I get it! “Cumulative” means to make something longer by continually adding to it. Like when we give a final exam to our students, and it covers all of the material from the whole semester, it’s a cumulative test.
H: And students love those. So, according to Wikipedia, a cumulative song is, “A song with a simple verse structure modified by progressive addition so that each verse is longer than the verse before. Cumulative songs are popular for group singing, in part because they require relatively little memorization of lyrics, and because remembering the previous verse to connect it to form the current verse can become a kind of game.”
E: Oh! That sounds like fun. So, it’s a way to just make a song longer and longer by adding to it. What are we connecting in this song?
H: It’s a song about a tree in the ground.
E: Uh, really? Is that it?
H: Yep. It sounds very simple, right? But each line builds on the previous one, remember?
E: I get it. Cool. And now that I’m looking at the lyrics. Do you know what else I’m noticing?
H: Does it have to do with pronunciation?
E: It does! There are so many consonant clusters in these lyrics.
H: Consonant what?
E: Consonant clusters. A consonant is a sound in a language that you make by stopping the air coming out of your mouth in some way either with your teeth, your lips or your tongue.
H: Like “p”
E: Or “b”
H: Or “t”
E: Or “g”
H: or even “ssssssssss”
E: Right.
H: And that’s why when we sing, we sing the vooooooowels and not the consonants.
E: Right. And what happens in English is that we often get a group or a cluster of consonant sounds together, which can make pronunciation challenging. Especially for people whose native language doesn’t have that feature.
H: Ok so when we sing, “the prettiest tree,” for example, the word “prettiest” has so many consonants in it!
E: It sure does. In addition, the s and t at the end of “prettiest” meet up with the t and r at the beginning of “tree.” That makes 4 consonant sounds all together!
H: That’s a real pronunciation challenge!
E: So, what can we do to make this pronunciation easier?
H: In this case, we have two ‘t’ sounds together, one at the end of the word and one at the beginning. You can put your tongue behind your teeth for the first ‘t,’ but not release it until you say the second one. Instead of prettiest [uh] tree, it sounds like prettiest-tree, linked together.
E: We talked about linking a consonant with a vowel in Episode 9 of the podcast with, “Let it Snow,” and now we’re talking about linking consonants. It seems a bit more challenging to link consonants.
H: It can be. Like we said, especially if your language doesn’t have final consonants, and there are many, many languages like this, what often happens is that you will just drop the final sound.
E: For example in the first line, “Oh in the woods, there was a tree,” it might be easier to sing, “Oh in the woo” and just leave off the final two consonant sounds of woods.
H: That’s right, but to pronounce words accurately, we need to hear all of the important sounds.
E: How about in the line that we were just talking about, “the prettiest tree, that you ever did see?”
H: Yes! There are three consonant clusters just in the first three words! “The prettiest tree.” Try saying that slowly so you can pronounce all of the sounds.
E: “The prettiest tree.” That is a lot of consonants.
H: What are some of the other words and phrases that have a lot of consonant clusters?
E: How about, “the prettiest branch”?
H: “The prettiest branch”
E: That’s challenging, but if you slow down and concentrate on each sound, it’s not so bad. You can practice it slowly, and then gradually increase your speed a bit. Ok. What about the consonant cluster in the repeated line, “And the green grass grew all around all around”?
H: That particular consonant cluster, the ‘gr’ sound, can be really challenging.
E: I agree. For some learners, it’s easier to pronounce it as a “gl” sound, with the tip of the tongue right behind the front teeth. So you might say, “the gleen glass glows” instead of the “green grass grows,” with the tongue curled back, not touching your teeth at all.
H: And for others, it’s tempting to use what I think of as a “rolled r.” The one that was so hard for us to learn when we were studying Spanish. The “r” sound. And so many languages have that type of ‘r’ sound. So it might sound like, “the green grass grows.”
E: Listeners will get a lot of practice with the “gr” sound in this song! Let’s try out the whole set of cumulative lyrics.
H: That’s a great idea! We’ll go slow, so you can pay attention to the consonant clusters!
E: There was a bird
H: The prettiest bird, that you ever did see
E: And the bird was in the egg
H: And the egg was in the nest
E: And the nest was on the branch
H: And the branch was on the limb
E: And the limb was on the tree
H: And the tree was in the ground
H + E: And the green grass grew all around, all around, and the green grass grew all around!
E: What a fun song! There are just a few words that maybe we should talk about.
H: You mean like, “nest”? That word has a great final consonant cluster, “nest.” And a “nest” is the house that a bird makes for itself, right?
E: Right. And how about, “branch”? That word is almost all consonants! “Branch” A branch is like the arm of the tree, right?
H: Yes, and in the next line they use the word “limb” - and this one looks like it has a consonant cluster, but it doesn’t. The “b” is silent. So, a limb is a bigger part of the tree, and the branches grow out of the limb.
E: And “limb” can be used to refer to an arm or a leg of a person or animal, but “branch” can only describe the “arms” of a tree. Ok! I think we’re ready to sing now!
H: I think so, too! There’s a link to Jewel’s 2011 folk music version as well as Barney’s 1993 children’s version in the episode notes.
E: Don’t forget to sing out loud, and wave your limbs as you sing!
H + E: “And the green grass grew all around all around and the green grass grew all around!”
<conclusion>
H: Wow! “The Green Grass Grew All Around” is a really great song!
E: It is. I can definitely see why your children liked it so much. I hope that all of our listeners will be practicing their consonant clusters.
H: I’m sure they will be! And you’re right! It’s actually a great song for people of all ages.
E: Don’t forget to subscribe to, “English as a Singing Language,” wherever you listen to podcasts.
H: And you should also follow us on Instagram @singinglanguages. You’ll get clues to upcoming songs and we’ll let you know when each episode is released!
E: We hope you’re enjoying the podcast, and we’re already looking forward to the next episode!
H: Until then, have fun and….
H + E: …just keep singing!
<conclusion>
Official YouTube Video - Barney
Official YouTube Video - Jewel
Complete Lyrics
Different versions of the song use a different tense. You’ll notice some say “grew” using the simple past tense, and others use, “grows” in the simple present. Listen to the lyrics carefully. Which one do you hear?
Oh in the woods there was a tree The prettiest tree You ever did see And the tree was in the ground And the green grass grew all around, all around, and the green grass grew all around
And on that tree There was a limb The prettiest limb That you ever did see And the limb was on the tree And the tree in the ground And the green grass grew all around, all around, and the green grass grew all around
And on that limb There was a branch The prettiest branch That you ever did see And the branch was on the limb, And the limb was on the tree, And the tree was in the ground And the green grass grew all around, all around, and the green grass grew all around
And on that branch There was a nest The prettiest nest That you ever did see And the nest was on the branch And the branch was on the limb And the limb was on the tree And the tree was in the ground And the green grass grew all around, all around, and the green grass grew all around
And in that nest There was an egg The prettiest egg That you ever did see And the egg was in the nest And the nest was on the branch And the branch was on the limb And the limb was on the tree And the tree was in the ground And the green grass grew all around, all around, and the green grass grew all around
And in that egg There was a bird The prettiest bird That you ever did see And the bird was in the egg And the egg was in the nest And the nest was on the branch And the branch was on the limb And the limb was on the tree And the tree was in the ground And the green grass grew all around, all around, and the green grass grew all around
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